TX 0907 6

September 23rd – Sunday did arrive as it usually does but it was about noon before we finally got out for a walk and the whole crowd went. FSIL had GM5 in his stroller, the Spice went at her own pace and GM2 finally decided to join us as OD and I stepped on out briskly. She kept up with us fairly well for the first mile or so but then we were letting her rest as we went down a cul-de-sac and she would get back with us when we came back out. Near the end we spotted FSIL and GM5 – GM2 decided to go with them as we finished our walk.

Later in the afternoon FSIL and I finished up the last project of the trip – to place a piece of trim at the front edge of the bathtub to replace one that had come loose. The list of jobs for the trip was then complete – it is sort of a thing with me that I enjoy having some projects to do when I go visit with the daughters. The day was a good family day together and GM2 made supper for us that night – pasta – and she did a good job.

Monday morning the 24th came and since this was our day of returning home, we were doing our last minute packing and prep. FSIL went on to work and GM2 sadly went to school – she wanted to stay out and go with us to the airport. We got ready, packed the van and OD, along with GM2, took us to Houston – the airport is about an hour’s drive from their house. We got there in plenty of time – we thought. There was only one person at ticketing and baggage, so it took a while to check the bags and get our boarding passes.

We headed in the general direction of the security check area at a meandering pace since none of us were too eager to part. It finally came time for us to pull ourselves away once again and go through the necessary aggravation. This was a routine check for me but as usual the Spice had to be patted down by a female security guard – this because of her defibrillator. We walked on toward our boarding gate – at the far end of the airport – at a normal pace, even stopping to pick up a snack on the way.

We thought we had plenty of time but by the time we got there, most everyone had boarded but us. We weren’t used to things being on time and even though this was a good thing, we had to take our snacks with us and finish them on board. We took off without incident and even though we had a few drops and bumps while getting up to altitude, everything smoothed out then.

There was a young lady across and up one seat that was having a tough time with the flight to begin with and for a short while I wasn’t sure if she was going to stand up under the ordeal. She seemed to have a large fear of flying and almost totally panicked before the plane ever left its parking spot but with her companion’s reassurance and the encouragement of the flight attendant, she finally settled down.

We arrived in Atlanta without incident and had a decent amount of time to get to our connecting flight to Augusta. We arrived at our gate to find a large crowd – it seems that two planes were using this same gate and the other flight was delayed. They finally boarded them about 45 minutes late. Because of that, our flight was delayed about 30 minutes but we finally boarded and as we sat waiting for our flight to leave we looked out and saw the folks on the other flight deplaning because of “maintenance issues”.

Our plane was a small jet – not the usual “puddle jumper” turbo-prop – and we came smoothly on in to Augusta. We deplaned, went to baggage claim and much to our surprise, our bags were there in about 5 minutes – what a concept!! Our daughter was waiting, so we loaded up and headed to our home in South Carolina, grateful to God for the safe trip and for a home to go back to. ec